![Screen-Shot-2017-03-15-at-1.19.15-PM-1024x430.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbEaX22RxuT17XLUguEpvkZDMQaSqdAxVadCAdjvDgWo2/Screen-Shot-2017-03-15-at-1.19.15-PM-1024x430.png) I had always wondered what a witness was, why was it necessary to vote for a witness. To quench my questions, I decided to make my own research and here was my find out. You can correct me wherever I am wrong and give me your valuable and reasonable feedbacks. At the end of this post, after which you have gotten a good knowledge on who a witness is then you can also join this poll and click on your favourite witnesses. Its just a good way to know the most popular person amongst us. But before any casting of votes, you need to fully understand what being a witness is all about and not just voting for anyone because they asked you to. Here are some basic points for those of you who are new like me and wondering what a witness is. Who are Steem Witnesses? Steem Witnesses are those that cotrols the steem network. They are people who have gone out there in setting up servers in order to keep the network going, keeping your transactions going, keeping your upvotes going, keeping your post going and so on. Making steemit more and more enjoyable. They have governance control and they can make decisions on the communities behalf They also make decisions on hardfork which in the end is important to us Where can I vote for Steem Witnesses? Witness Link [here](https://steemit.com/~witnesses) You can vote only vote for upto 30 Witnesses ![Screenshot_20180905-075622.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmerb4SQNa34EmwLQqtDx7W5K4MD6f7cMcADK2wtB5waNB/Screenshot_20180905-075622.png) If the person whom you want to vote is not in the list you can search for them in the search box provided at the end of the page on the link. ![Screenshot_20180905-080239.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWMhDuxMj8Mvo2mCf464HgwRCga9YTwcmciUvjHkD98SS/Screenshot_20180905-080239.png) You can also set a proxy who will vote on your behalf if you are unsure whom to vote for Facts you should know about the witness program. •The top 100 witnesses are paid for their services •The top 20 witnesses earn a regular salary- As the top 20 are given salary, there is always strong competition for witnesses to enter the top 20 list which keeps them at alert all the time trying to work harder. Why Do I Need To Vote and When I Should Remove My Vote From Someone? I feel voting for your witnesses is an awesome idea. If a witness stops thinking of the community before himself or doesn't work as he is supposed to, you are free to remove your votes from his name and he will automatically drop down. The main problem about this voting stuff is this, just like in the political system, when contesting all you simply have to do to win is pay people to vote for you. I fear that once steemit goes popular, many influential people would like to become witnesses. They are likely to buy votes from people (desperate) so that they can reach the top 20. @blog-fictions in this [post](https://steemit.com/steemit/@blog-fictions/favourite-witness-poll) asked this question, What can be done to stop that? You can go to that link an answer the question or simply drop it here. As I conclude, voting for a witness is one of the top things to do. Without a proper witness, the system is likely to crash leaving leaving us to suffer for the mistakes caused by greed. Below is the list of top 20 witnesses. 1. @gtg 2. @timcliff 3. @jesta 4. @roelandp 5. @good-karma 6. @blocktrades 7. @ausbitbank 8. @aggroed 9. @someguy123 10. @smooth.witness 11. @curie 12. @lukestokes.mhth 13. @followbtcnews 14. @clayop 15. @thecryptodrive 16. @anyx 17. @xeldal 18. @pfunk 19. @cervantes 20. @drakos There you have it, the top 20 witnesses. If you feel that any of the listed is worthy of your vote all you have to do is go [Witness Link here](https://steemit.com/~witnesses). # That's all for now. I still remain @trojan4 # Always trying to carry the minnows along Don't forget to vote for your favorite steemian (a working steemian) and also ![DQmaUNt1gVETZXCNQTMAeQvE48GAa7KHa9cQa3jjgzPnpAq.gif](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmcPaon9zBFHpTHWTPj4c5JPEBMtLNubRraoqTMfYccgf2/DQmaUNt1gVETZXCNQTMAeQvE48GAa7KHa9cQa3jjgzPnpAq.gif)

esther-dee